Ellagic Acid

Ellagic Acid is a naturally occurring polyphenolic found in 46 different fruits and nuts such as blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cranberries. Ellagic acid:

Contains a very strong anti-oxidant Is also a potent anti-carcinogen. Has the ability to inhibit mutations within a cell's DNA. Is also considered to be a cancer inhibitor which has the ability to cause apoptosis or normal cell death in cancer cells. Has antibacterial and anti-viral properties.

Ellagic acid acts as a scavenger to "bind" cancer-causing chemicals, making them inactive. It inhibits the ability of other chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria.Development

The earliest published research on ellagic acid began in the 1970's and 80's, with the first studies beginning in 1993. These years of research have resulted in a dietary supplement that is safe, inexpensive, and free of harmful side effects.

Nine years of study have shown that a natural product called ellagic acid is causing G-arrest within 48 hours (inhibiting and stopping mitosis-cancer cell division), and apoptosis (normal cell death) within 72 hours, for breast, pancreas, esophageal, skin, colon and prostate cancer cells.Pharmacology

Cancer can affect DNA by covalent bonding of the carcinogen to the DNA molecule. Ellagic acid inhibits mutagenesis and carcinogenesis by forming adducts with DNA, thus masking binding sites to be occupied by the mutagen or carcinogen. Teel RW. Ellagic acid binding to DNA as a possible mechanism for its antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic action. Cancer Lett 30(3):329-36, 1986.

Additional studies suggest that one of the mechanisms by which ellagic acid inhibits mutagenesis and carcinogenesis is by forming adducts with DNA, thus masking binding sites to be occupied by the mutagen or carcinogen.

Ellagic acid treatment of preweanling mice before an injection of B(a)P diol-epoxide caused a 44% to 75% inhibition in the number of diol-epoxide-induced lung tumors.

Antibacterial and Antiviral

Ellagic Acid Bacteria require us the enzyme gyrase in order to reproduce. Ellagic Acid inhibits the gyrase enzyme and bacteria cannot easily become resistant to this type of antibacterial action.Viruses do not have the ability to reproduce by themselves. They must use a host cell from our body. This requires an enzyme called integrase and Ellagic Acid inhibits this enzyme also.

Effectiveness

Inhibition of carcinogenesis by ellagic acid has been demonstrated in animals with esophagus, tongue, lung, colon, liver, and skin tumors. It has also shown effectiveness against cervical carcinoma in the lab. Ellagic acid inhibits the initiation of tumors through a number of mechanisms, including inhibition of metabolic activation of carcinogenic compounds (such as polycyclic hydrocarbons, nitroso-containing chemicals or food preservatives, and aflatoxins) into forms that induce cell DNA damage.A complete list of cancers against which ellagic acid has shown effectiveness in either the laboratory or actual human tests:

Breast

Cervical

Colon

Esophageal

Leukemia

Liver

Lung

Pancreatic

Prostate

Skin

Tongue

Past Studies

It should be noted that all of the studies and trials used ellagic acid from red raspberry powder although ellagic acid is found in a number of nuts and fruit.

Unpublished research at the Hollings Cancer Center shows that one cup of raspberries per week will stop prostate cancer growth for a period of up to one week. Their studies reveal that ellagic acid from red raspberries is readily absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. This study is ongoing, but you can read more at the Life Enthusiast web site**.

Ellagic acid retains its potency after heating, freezing and concentration processing. So whether consumed fresh, in juices, fruit spreads, preserves or sorbets, red raspberry has been recommended as a beneficial part of any healthy diet.

Dr. Daniel Nixon, of the Medical University of South Carolina stated that ellagic acid, "is known to inhibit certain carcinogen-induced cancers and may have other preventive properties." Dr. Nixon studied the effects of ellagic acid on cervical carcinoma cells. He found that ellagic acid stopped tumor growth in the lab after a couple of days and induced apoptosis (cell death).

The Hollings Cancer Institute at the University of South Carolina is conducting a double blind study on 500 cervical cancer patients.

Nine years of study has shown that ellagic acid is inhibiting mitosis-cancer cell division within 48 hours, and causing apoptosis within 72 hours.

Quantity of Papers

There is a large number of peer reviewed research papers. Click here for a list of references.Conclusiveness of Papers

Research papers generally agree that ellagic acid inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is less agreement on the ability of ellagic acid to destroy cancer tumors in the body.Standalone Ability

Ellagic acid seems to be a good preventative, but not a supremely strong tumor remover. Therefore, it seems that it would be a good addition to a cancer regiment, but may not be an effective stand alone treatment.

Dosage and Ease of Use

Due to the low amount of ellagic acid in each, a person needs to take two or three capsules three times a day. Sometimes, this is an excessive number of pills to add to the usual high amount that a cancer patient is already taking.

People who change their eating habits greatly increase the effectiveness of the supplements they take. Consider reading the "General Diet*" subsection of the Home page.Protocols

Greenwood Health claims that some health care practitioners are recommending a maintenance dosage of up to 900 mg a day and a therapeutic dosage of up to 1,800 mg. Most other manufacturer specify a daily dose of approximately 40 mg which is much too low. See the table in the Ordering section. This reflects a gross misunderstanding of the amount of Ellagic acid to take.Side Effects

Ellagic acid for the most part is free of harmful side effects, however an increase in blood pressure for some patients has been noticed.Ellagic Acid and Chemo

Turns out that Ellagic Acid can reduce the side effects of Chemo.

Warning: If a cancer patient uses Ellagic Acid during a course of chemo, the reduced side effects caused by Ellagic Acid may encourage the oncologist to increase the dose of chemo. If the patient then decides to stop the Ellagic Acid, for whatever reason, the side effects of chemo can increase and greatly threaten the patients life.

Compatibility

No conflicts with other medications or supplements are known. The manufacturer of Paw Paw has performed tests that have shown that Paw Paw does not conflict with ellagic acid.

Ellagic Acid Formulas for Pets

Ellagic Acid is one of the most popular cancer treatments for pets. So far I have only found two Ellagic Acid manufacturers that have a high Ellagic Acid content, Greenwood Health, Ellagic Insurance Formula at 80 mg per pill and a recommended 480 mg/day (unfortunately, it also contains Graviola which may or may not be wanted for a person or pet) and Pure Prescriptions Ellagic Defense at 90 mg per pill and a recommended 180 mg/day. I don't know if you are aware of the lowering of daily recommendation of supplements by manufacturers who fear side effects, but it is common. Practitioners who use muscle testing constantly find the dose asked for by the body is two or three times the daily recommend dose by the manufacturer.

I think it would be reasonable to select the higher dose of 480 mg/day and assume a body weight of 150 pounds. That would make an equivalent recommendation of 32 mg/day per 10 pounds of body weight. So a dog that weighs 40 pounds could take 128 mg or about one and a half 90 mg pills.

Year Available

Ellagic acid became generally available in the 1990s although published research on ellagic acid began in the 1970's.

Relative Cost per Month

There are many suppliers of ellagic acid. Depending upon the supplier, monthly cost runs around $40. Testimonials and Belief

Testimonials can be a very powerful tool to help in the healing process because they can boost your belief in a treatment. However, reading testimonies is a poor method of making a treatment selection. An alternative cancer treatment with only a 5% success rate can still obtain many genuine and impressive testimonials. A selected group of positive testimonials cannot compare to a published study were all of the qualified case histories are presented, the failures as well as the successes.

For the above reason, it is not a good idea to use testimonials to help you select a cancer treatment. Save testimonials for the role that they perform the best, bolstering belief after treatments have been selected. Using an Alternative Cancer Treatment Test kit* is a much better method of making the treatment decision. The best collection of testimonials comes as an addendum to Natural Cancer Cures by Karon Beattie which is currently out of stock hopefully only temporarily.

There are many valid alternative cancer treatments that conventional doctors cannot prescribe. Each treatment only works on a minority of patients that try it. The best treatment for a patient depends more on body chemistry than the type or stage of cancer. Just because a treatment worked on someone else does not mean it will work for you.Insure SuccessAlmost every cancer patient uses more than one alternative cancer treatment. The most successful use at least one that was selected by their body. After you order Ellagic Acid, learn how to ask you body to select another cancer treatment using Applied Kinesiology*. It only takes about ten minutes and you will have a skill that will help you do many things.

Manufacturers

Ellagic Acid concentrations vary widely from manufacturer to manufacture. Actually, there seems to be some terrible misunderstandings about Ellagic Acid. This information should clear up the disinformation:

Some manufacturers falsely claim that Ellagic Acid does not exist in nature and that only the Ellagitannin content is important. This is completely untrue. Ellagic Acid does exist in nature. The following plants contain free Ellagic Acid not just Ellagitannins: strawberry, walnut, guava, Chinese gall, grape, pomegranate and raspberry. Many web sites quote glowing results from the Cancer Prevention Program at Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina regarding the success of Ellagic Acid, but that study never mentions Ellagitannins. Some manufacturers list the amount of raspberry seed power in each capsule. Unprocessed raspberry seed power contains Ellagic Acid in the ridiculously small, cmg range (1000 cmg = one mg). Only purchase products that clearly display Ellagic Acid in the mg range. You can find products that have 20 to 840 mg of Ellagic Acid per pill.PureBulkThis Ellagic Acid is obtained from Chinese gall. Although there is no evidence that it is any less effective than Ellagic Acid from raspberry seeds, all research mentioned on this page was performed on Ellagic Acid from raspberry seeds.

Daily DoseThe daily dose of Ellagic Acid ranges as high as 1 gram (1000 milligrams, or 1000mg). One quarter teaspoon of PureBulk Ellagic Acid provides approximately 565 mg of pure Ellagic Acid considering the 92% pure concentration pf PureBulk Ellagic Acid. Smart cancer patients are taking one quarter teaspoon of PureBulk Ellagic Acid twice a day to obtain the maximum dose. This makes 500 grams about a year supply